> In that case, in 2002, a man named Larry Hope sued Alabama prison officials for chaining him, shirtless, to a hitching post designed for livestock. For seven hours in the hot Southern sun, Hope had minimal water and no bathroom breaks. At one point, Hope alleged, a guard taunted him by giving water to the dogs from the prison’s K-9 unit. When Hope conceded he was thirsty enough that he would drink it after the dogs, the guard kicked it over so it spilled onto the ground.
Wild that Justices Thomas, Rehnquist and Scalia dissented with the court, finding that the hitching post was not obviously cruel.
The dissenting argument isn’t unreasonable — it’s not that the total event wasn’t cruel, but the restraining bar in and of itself wasn’t obviously cruel.
And his reduction stems from apparently the wrong guards are being sued..? I’m not clear why the gaurds who actually committed the abuse aren’t being sued, rather than two unrelated actors and one whose sole involvement was the attachment to the restraining bar. Presumably they did other things, but not the extreme one pushing the lawsuit as a constitutional violation.
It seems to me Thomas’s contention is the selected guards didn’t themselves engage in anything that “severe” — not that no cruelty occurred, or that the event in total was not cruel.
It would be nice to periodically screen law enforcers (edit: and correctional officers) for psychopathy.
Maybe recrutement should actively try to reject those most likely to be authoritarian bullies with power complexes.
How is it solved elsewhere? I mean I have not heard of, say, German cops getting away with pretty much anything, thus probably not having the “cushion” mentioned.
> I mean I have not heard of, say, German cops getting away with pretty much anything, thus probably not having the “cushion” mentioned.
German cops actually get away with a lot, too. There are cases where excessive violence is used (at least imo). However, it is not common. Same should be true for prison guard. I believe the biggest difference is that both are not thrown into the job after a few weeks of training, but after about three years of training (at least police training takes that long).
This is all just my opinion: I'm white male in my mid 30s and rarely have to deal with police, so obviously others might paint a different picture.
[+] [-] zachrose|4 years ago|reply
Wild that Justices Thomas, Rehnquist and Scalia dissented with the court, finding that the hitching post was not obviously cruel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_v._Pelzer#Dissenting_opin...
[+] [-] setr|4 years ago|reply
And his reduction stems from apparently the wrong guards are being sued..? I’m not clear why the gaurds who actually committed the abuse aren’t being sued, rather than two unrelated actors and one whose sole involvement was the attachment to the restraining bar. Presumably they did other things, but not the extreme one pushing the lawsuit as a constitutional violation.
It seems to me Thomas’s contention is the selected guards didn’t themselves engage in anything that “severe” — not that no cruelty occurred, or that the event in total was not cruel.
[+] [-] sheepdestroyer|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andreskytt|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] metters|4 years ago|reply
German cops actually get away with a lot, too. There are cases where excessive violence is used (at least imo). However, it is not common. Same should be true for prison guard. I believe the biggest difference is that both are not thrown into the job after a few weeks of training, but after about three years of training (at least police training takes that long).
This is all just my opinion: I'm white male in my mid 30s and rarely have to deal with police, so obviously others might paint a different picture.
EDIT: Most cases in which someone files a complaint are never closed (Aquitted or convicted). Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polizeigewalt
[+] [-] ikerdanzel|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] lorlou|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Natfan|4 years ago|reply
I forgot that human rights are just guidelines, my bad.